The publication entitled: Immunotherapy with apitopes® blocks the immune response to thyroid stimulating hormone receptor in HLA-DR transgenic mice , reports the results from a series of studies to identify peptides that can be used to treat the abnormal immune response to TSHR (thyroid stimulating hormone receptor) in Graves’ disease patients and can be found here.

The study showed that a mixture of two immunodominant apitopes® was sufficient to suppress both the abnormal T cell and antibody response to TSHR in HLA-DR transgenic mice. Tolerance induction was not disrupted by current drug treatments for Graves’ disease. The paper concluded antigen-specific immunotherapy with apitopes® from TSHR is a suitable approach for the treatment of Graves’ disease.

Dr Keith Martin, CEO of Apitope, said:“It is very encouraging to have these findings by our talented team of scientists published in Endocrinology, one of the most highly-regarded journals in the field. The data shows that immunotherapy with apitopes® is a suitable approach to be investigated for the treatment of Graves’ disease and demonstrate the potential to be the first disease-modifying treatment, as well as the first innovative therapy for Graves’ disease in more than 60 years.”

Prof David Wraith, CSO of Apitope, said:“I am excited to see these data published because it provides further evidence of the broad applicability of the Apitope platform to identify peptide apitopes® to treat a wide range of autoimmune diseases. The initial clinical data announced earlier this year confirmed the potential for the apitopes® reported in this publication to make a significant impact in the treatment of Graves’ disease.”